Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday inaugurated ‘Participate Mumbai’, a digital platform to enhance collaboration between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), corporates, NGOs, experts and citizens for the city’s development through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
He said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ‘Samagra’ organisation will help improve the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) service delivery system, simplify administrative processes, and boost efficiency. Both these initiatives will combine public participation with swift administration to speed up Mumbai’s development.
CM Fadnavis remarked that ‘Participate Mumbai’ is not just a platform to secure CSR funds, but a collaborative platform centered on the idea of “What can you and I together do for the last person in society?”
Information about various projects on BMC’s requirements for partnership will be made available on this portal. Companies, NGOs, or citizens willing to work in sectors such as education, healthcare, water, employment, environment, parks, beautification, and poverty alleviation can select projects aligned with their interests, he said.
If an organisation wishes to work in a specific field, it can also present its own proposal on the platform. The Chief Minister expressed confidence that this would bridge the gap between the BMC and the social and corporate sectors, thereby accelerating development work.
CM Fadnavis emphasised that rather than focusing solely on the amount of funds spent through CSR, what matters more is how much public welfare was achieved and what real impact was created. Through CSR partnerships, the government gains access to new technologies, modern management practices, robust monitoring mechanisms, and flexible working methods. Traditional government administrative processes have certain limitations; therefore, combining government machinery with CSR partners yields far more effective results.
While the BMC has executed major work in infrastructure, there is an urgent need for more effective interventions in education, health, and nutrition. Issues like malnutrition, stunting, and wasting among children persist in certain parts of the city. CSR partnerships must be effectively leveraged to reach children in slums and underprivileged areas with proper nutrition.
He said nutrition directly impacts brain development, academic performance, and immunity in children; thus, targeted interventions will yield long-term benefits for the next generation.
An Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based system has been implemented in the BMC’s building proposal department for scrutinising construction plans. CM Fadnavis stated that the goal moving forward should be to minimise or eliminate human intervention in this process, which will significantly boost ease of doing business in Mumbai.
The administration must adapt with time, and the mindset of “We have done it this way for years; who is going to teach us?” needs to change, Fadnavis said.
–IANS
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